Podcasts about lotus pond

景點 jǐngdiǎn - tourist attraction龍虎塔 Lónghǔ Tǎ - Dragon and Tiger Pagodas左營區 Zuǒyíng Qū - Zuoying District蓮池潭 Liánchítán - Lotus Pond興建 xīngjiàn - to construct, to build神明 shénmíng - deity, god指示 zhǐshì - instruction, directive慈濟宮 Cíjì Gōng - Tzu Chi Palace (temple)保生大帝 Bǎoshēng Dàdì - Baosheng Emperor (a Taoist deity)災難 zāinàn - disaster, catastrophe信徒 xìntú - believer, follower (of a religion)求平安 qiú píng'ān - to seek peace and safety建造 jiànzào - to construct, to build完工 wángōng - to complete construction隔一年 gé yī nián - the following year永清塔 Yǒngqīng Tǎ - Yongqing Pagoda補風水 bǔ fēngshuǐ - to enhance feng shui七級浮屠 qī jí fútú - seven-tiered pagoda佛塔 fótǎ - Buddhist pagoda西遊記 Xīyóujì - Journey to the West (a famous Chinese novel)救人一命，勝造七級浮屠 jiù rén yī mìng, shèng zào qī jí fútú - saving one life is more meritorious than building a seven-tiered pagoda救人活命，功德無量 jiù rén huómìng, gōngdé wúliàng - saving lives brings boundless merit九曲橋 jiǔqūqiáo - Nine-cornered Bridge彎曲 wānqū - winding, curved擋煞 dǎng shà - to block evil spirits (in feng shui)煞氣 shàqì - evil energy, negative force屏風 píngfēng - folding screen, room divider規矩 guījǔ - rule, custom入龍喉，出虎喉 rù lóng hóu, chū hǔ hóu - enter through the dragon's mouth, exit through the tiger's mouth Planning to travel or move to Taiwan? If you'd like to improve your Chinese before you go, feel free to book a one-on-one lesson with me.I'll help you improve your Chinese so you can settle in more comfortably when you arrive. Book a one-on-one free trial lesson with me !

通天河的妖怪每年要吃童男童女，悟空八戒变成小孩模样去打妖怪，妖怪却使计策抓走了唐僧。其实，妖怪是观音菩萨莲花池中逃出的大红鲤鱼。观音菩萨收走了妖怪。一只巨大的乌龟载师徒过河，让唐僧帮它问佛祖一个问题。 Each year, the monsters at the River of Heaven demanded to consume young boys and girls. Wukong and Bajie disguised themselves as children to confront the monsters, but the monsters cunningly captured Tang Seng. In reality, the monster was a large red carp that escaped from Guanyin Bodhisattva's Lotus Pond. Guanyin Bodhisattva intervened and took the monster away. A massive turtle helped the master and disciples cross the river, asking Tang Monk to inquire about a question from the Buddha.

Daily Quote A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) Poem of the Day The Fly William Blake Beauty of Words 荷塘月色 朱自清

In today's episode, I am going back up to the Monkey Temple in Kathmandu to sit by the Lotus Ponds. The image of the Lotus flower inspires us to unlock the potential for transformation and growth. The Lotus stand for transforming negative energies into positive ones.  Our short lotus meditation will help us to bring greater self-awareness, compassion, and insight to help us unlock the potential for transformation and growth.

Jenn speaks to Jessica Kay Lee, founder of The Lotus Pond (TLP), a mind-body and spiritual wellness consultancy designed for women, mothers and the change-makers of the world. Jessica talks about how motherhood led her on her spiritual awakening path and shares why she is passionate about holding space for other mothers and women. She shares her upbringing, her curiosity for life's purpose, becoming a mom at a young age, starting a business with her husband and how she rediscovered her self in her motherhood journey. (Recorded on March 10, 2023)About Jessica:Jessica is a mother of two boys & a corgi, wife to a doting husband, daughter to supportive parents, proud sister, and blessed friend to amazing souls all around the world! Aside from the various roles she plays in her life, she is a 300H certified meditation coach with a Spiritual Psychology Masters and Maternal Wellbeing Advanced Certification from Columbia University.Episode Resources:Website IG Spirituality Mind Body Institute Dr. Aurelie M. Athan

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Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hypnosis-and-relaxation-sound-therapy9715/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Coach Bless is passionate about teaching kids and athletes how to take care of their bodies. He teaches the importance of meditation, flexibility, and mobility. From Atlanta, Coach Bless went to Columbia Highschool 2011 and graduated from Miles College in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management. He received his YTT Yoga Certification at The Lotus Pond in Tampa Florida in 2018 and since then teaches all levels of athletes, from elementary, secondary, and collegiate athletes to professionals and retired pros. His favorite yoga pose is the first one ever created: “The Seat.” Contact Information: Email: stepbless@outlook.com IG: Stepbless Your Body Is Your Business! Shawn and Laura are professionals based out of Atlanta “Trust, respect, passion, & integrity. These core values can be offered on your journey to optimize your lifestyle changes. Our goal is to provide you with the tools, knowledge, & confidence to provide you the edge over your competition. ” Interested? Click on the link tree below The link below provides access to the podcast on #applepodcasts, discount on #thorne #supplements, nutrition services, and professional experience https://linktr.ee/rootsrd Sponsors: If you are interested in sponsoring the show please contact Shawn @ sportsrd607@gmail.com #podcast #nutrition #sportnutrition #strength #mentalhealth #sportsmedicine #atc #leadership #strengthandconditioning #performance #athletes #coach #standard #routine #schedule #tough #meditation #yoga #relax #spirtual #body #mind #mobility #felxibility #recovery #breathing #tool #active --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/shawn-pitcher/support

commander in charge of Huguang province, Prince Nikan. Meanwhile Qing princes Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao were dispatched to pacify Guangdong and Guangxi. Wu Sangui was ordered to pacify Sichuan, but was being tied down heavily in its northern sector, maybe he was fighting all the tigers.    Wu had discovered that Sichuan was so devastated it made things ruinous for military campaigns. He lacked the resources to do much against the countless bandits armies and the newly emerged forces of Sun Kewangs which he referred to as a “poison overrunning the province”.  The entire situation as Wu put it “Chengdu was a devastated ruin and all was empty around it. The dead and starving were everywhere and for hundreds of li there were no cooking fires but bandit gangs roamed allying with the ming freely. All of Sichuan is in the hands of bandits and their strategic situation has already improved greatly since their emergence. Without men or materiel where will I get the resources to recover land and extirpate [the bandits]?”   Nonetheless in february of 1652, Wu and his subordinate Li Guohan made an offensive through the Jianmen “sword pass” all the way to Jiading. By april they captured Chongqing and by may northern Sichuan was considered fully pacified. Still Wu and Guohan had no illusions, the bandits and Ming defenses in the south remained dangerous, but the giddy young Qing Emperor assumed Sichuan as a whole was weakened and thought Wu would be able to assist Nikan in his mission. The young Qing emperor also sought to mass large armies to retake Yunnan and Guizhou after Sichuan was taken, quite a large order.    A grandson of Nurhaci, Prince Nikan served with Prince Haoge in western China and held an assortment of administrative posts in the capital before he was appointed “Ding yuan da Jiangjun”, generalissimo in charge of pacifying the distant regions, following Kong Youdes death. Nikan proceeded into Huguang at the head of his army of 100,000. Like most Qing commanders, Prince Nikan was given orders to accept the surrender of anyone who submitted without a fight and that it was paramount to protect the people. Strict military regulations were to be enforced, forbidding the rape and pillaging of whom were supposed to be their subjects. Understandable, you can't go around abusing the people you want to govern after all. Nikan's army marched to Guangxi to do battle with Li Dingguo and he was promised aid from Xi'an. The Qing military operations were consuming more than half the Qing governments revenue and they knew they should be cautious and secure taxable lands before venturing deep into the southwest again. Nikans forces successfully defeated Li Dingguo's subordinates Ma Jinzhong at Yuezhou and Zhang Honggong at Changsha. Nikan pursued them west and encountered Li Dingguo's scouts near Hengzhou. Nikan defeated some of Li's forces at Hengzhou sending him on the run, but then Li set up an ambush near Qiyang where Nikan's army sustained heavy casualties. Nikan pushed forward, with his vanguard running into another ambush near Yongzhou. Li feigned a retreat and soon Nikans army was stretched out widely into 3 groupings. Li then personally led his forces brandishing a great sword on horseback into battle. Nikan fought bravely but was overwhelmed and speared off his mount. Li severed Nikans head from its corpse and paraded it around before falling back to Wugang.   The Qing were absolutely shocked,  Emperor Shunzhi screamed “ “In our dynasty's military history we've never suffered a loss like this!”. The Ming scholar and philosopher Huang Zongxi said of Li Dingguo's victory  “it was the most complete Ming victory since the Wanli reign.”. The prefect of Guilin said of Li's victory ““The duke (Li) uses troops like a god. He's a little Zhuge [Liang]. His laws and regulations are clear and strict without committing the slightest mistake, and he combines the strong and weak in his brigades with all knowing their roles. Thus the people practically fight to join him.” The Qing licked their wounds and now put the veteran collaborator Hong Chengchou in charge of all operations in the far south.    Even though Li had managed to kill Prince Nikan, he was unable to take advantage of the great victory because his subordinates Feng Shuangli and Ma Jinzhong were still working for Sun Kewang in secrecy, undermining him. Soon much of Huguang fell right back into the hands of the Qing and Feng sent word to Sun to stoke his jealousy “I fear that from now on, Dingguo will be hard to control”. Sun tried to remedy his relationship with Li by offering him  the title of Prince of Xining, but Li refused stating “Investitures come from the Son of Heaven. How can one prince enfoeff another?” thus Li was making the argument that only Emperor Yongli could bestow someone as prince outraging Sun, kind of ironic also given the fact it was an argument Sun had made himself, haha. Sun was publicly praising Li's victories, while privately trying to destroy him. Sun sent countless letters summoning Li to “discuss strategy” but instead Li camped in Baoqing and ignored them. It turns out Li was being tipped off by Liu Wenxiu's son that Sun was probably trying to assassinate him. Li worried not just for his life, but for his family who were all in Yunnan.    Now it should be noted Li Dingguo's armies success was primarily a result of his training programs and leadership. Li was an extremely capable military leader, he understood the limitations and strengths of his forces. For one thing he did not believe in sticking around in one place for too long, he knew the limitations of his logistics, such as a need for food. His experience as a bandit leader was of grave importance for the survival of his forces as most of their campaigns relied on moving into territories, securing resources and moving on. He also had a tendency to strike out fast without warning and leav before the Qing could consolidate on that position. Li made sure to build close ties with areas he led his forces into, trying to win over many, and this proved highly successful as unlike his former adoptive father, Li had always tried to limit atrocities. Li also heavily benefited from Yunnan specifically, he was running around with war elephants afterall, fearsome shock units, though very expensive to feed and maintain. It was said that the Qing feared Li and his “southern barbarian forces” as they were known.    Estimates for the total troops available for the South Ming regime are most likely inflated but some sources claim Sun Kewang to have 800,000 men, Li Dingguo 400,000 and Liu Wenxiu 140,000. There is a breakdown of organizational structure as well when it comes to the South Ming armies. For mobile brigades (youji), each with a commander, consisting of 2 brigades (ying), which held around 1750 troops. Then there are 5 vice commanders (dusi) each with 350 troops, divided into 5 separate units of 70, further divided into 5 squads of 13. Now for a regular brigade each held 3000 troops with 10 battalions of 300, subdivided into 2 companies of 150 each. Lt's led platoons of 30 men, sergeants squads of 10.   The South Ming regime were bolstered heavily by minority troops which themselves brought a variety of differing weaponry and military tactics. Its hard to gauge, but some modern scholars estimate there was a ratio of 1 gun per 15 soldiers overall, but other scholars argue they had even more. As already mentioned we see a heavy use of Elephant cavalry amongst Li Dingguo's forces, he also had unique firearms, repeating crossbows and specialized polearms. By the way if you ever have a chance to check out repeating crossbows going back to the ancient times of China, its worthwhile, they are awesome. There were the famous 3 eyed bird guns, western made cannons and much more. Li's force particularly liked using cavalry, favoring the mobility, but horses were in short supply for Yunnan and Sichuan. The war elephants were typically in the frontlines with men firing guns atop their backs, which sounds absolutely awesome.  Li Dingguo's campaigns also came with horrifying consequences for the common folk, it is estimated up to a possibly million commoners were killed during the offensive in 1652 from war conditions and famine. Basically anywhere the Qing and Ming decided to do battle ruined the area, people were pressed into service, killed, pillaged, lost homes and farms and such leading to starvation, many refugees spread into other areas causing more and more problems.     While northern Sichuan was being secured by the forces of Li Guoying and Wu Sangui, Sun Kewang decided to expand into northern Sichuan and sent Liu Wenxiu. The Qing attempted to hold Liu's forces back, but the elephant cavalry proved extremely effective and soon they were pushed back towards Baoning. A large reason the Elephant cavalry was so successful was because they simply spooked the Qing horses, though for anyone who knows their Mongol war history, you can already see how using war elephants might prove disastrous. While horses are indeed spooked by elephants, horses mounted archers can quite easily spook elephants back by pelting them with arrows and flanking them. Regardless from many of the sources I am reading, this seems to not become the case until later on. Liu Wenxiu soon took Chongqing, Chengdu with the aid of his elephants and heavy cannons, he now felt the time was right to march on the Qing stronghold of Baoning. Liu besieged Baoning with 50,000 troops while another Ming commander, Wang Fuchen built floating bridges to cross the Ling River to cut off the escape from Baoning. Wu Sangui argued with Li Guoying that they should retreat to Hanzhong, but Li felt abandoning Baoning would mean the loss of Sichuan completely and that was unacceptable. Li then instructed Wu to place his troops in a position from which they could not escape. This tactic is known as “deadly ground”, the idea was by putting the forces in a life or death situation they would perform at their best. Sure hate to be those forces. Wu Sangui was still looking to retreat, but his colleagues basically told him he would get executed for doing so in Beijing. Abandoning Baoning would set the Qing pacification back for years and thus it was imperative to make this stand.    Baoning was quite a defendable city, it held rivers on 3 sides and a mountain on its 4th. The Ming tried to use that mountain to fire muskets into the city but the range was too far. Liu kept up the pressure on 3 sides of the city while guarding against any relief forces incoming from the north. It was an overly aggressive stance leaving Liu's forces thinly places about, but he had no choice but to take up an aggressive stance in the hopes of breaking the city faster since Liu did not have enough supplies for a long siege, neither did the Qing for that matter. It also seems Liu had his eyes fixated on the prize and may have been too eager. Afterall if he took Baoning it would mean he was the man who took all of Sichuan.   It seems in his efforts to envelope Baoning Liu had left some gaps in his formations and Wu saw this. Liu had arrayed his 13 war elephant cavalry units in the front of the formation intending to use them as shock troops and to protect his more unarmored troops in the formations center. The problem was because the war elephants were in the front like this, the troops behind them could not see what was past the elephants, and elephants unlike horses dont move fast, thus the enemy would be able to maneuver quickly and the troops would not know where they would be hit in time. What made maters even worse was the fact these unarmored troops in the middle had their backs to the Ling River. Lius army consisted mostly of pikemen with rattan shields and some harquebusiers. They were arrayed on the 3 sides of the city, 4 ranks deep with elephants in front followed by pikemen and harquebusiers in the rear. The formation reassembled a crescent moon, stretching some 5 miles around the city. For those of you war gamers you can probably visualize the setup and see some of the issues. For example Liu would employ his elephants into a charge to smash the enemy's cavalry, then open the lines for pikemen to finish them off followed by harquebusiers to shoot straddlers, a good plan? Problem, elephants are quite slow, what if the cavalry simply run around them?  Wu told Zhang that if they could open a gap in the enemy's lines they might be able to win. Liu commanded an attack and Wu feigned a retreat  near the Guanyin Temple which drew the Ming in pursuit. The pursuit separated some of the formation exposing the unarmored troops in the middle of Liu's formation and Wu circled around the flanks concentrating fire up the weak middle. Next Wu's cavalry smashed into some Pikemen formations pushing the enemy closer to the Ling River. Then Wu led his force against Liu Wenxiu, charging at the elephants, but they did not break. So Wu feigned another retreat, goading Liu into a chaotic pursuit. As Liu charged, Wu's forces wheeled back around and hit them with a crossfire of arrows, remember what I said about Mongolian tactics. To make matters worse, Liu's hasty pursuit saw him leaving behind many of the shield bearers, and thus they had no counter to the arrow fire. Liu's forces began to rout and Liu himself was forced to escape by cutting a floating bridge at the head of nearly half his original force of 50,000. Now 10,000 of his men were on the other side of the Ling river, scrambling to get across and they were quickly slaughtered. The Elephants eventually panicked and scattered in their own right. Wu Sangui went on to claim his forces killed and captured more than 40,000 troops during the battle. Li Guoying claimed that no more than 1000 men managed to escape and that they had captured seals of authority, 3 elephants, over 2000 horses and a mountain of firearms. Liu would retreat all the way to Yunnan and be lambasted by Sun and demoted. Liu from then on would resent Sun and fell more into the fold of Li Dingguo. After the battle both Li Guoying and Wu Sangui sent forces wheeling around to pursue the Ming as they withdrew. Wu Sangui's forces eventually stopped at Chengdu wrecking multiple Ming armies. Li Guoying began to consolidate his power in Sichuan, defeating and cornering Ming loyalist forces across the north and west of Sichuan. Li would go as far as to claim north and western Sichuan were fully pacified to Beijing.    Meanwhile the Ming court was still fawning over Li Dingguo like fangirls of a Kpop band and gave him the title of Prince of Xining, really pissing off Sun Kewang. This pushed Sun Kewang to begin a military campaign going east in autumn of 1652 seeking to raise his military profile, but at the same time Hong Chengchou was sent to Hunan to pacify it. Hong did not take an aggressive stance and opted instead to restore the prosperity of the region. Sun's campaign began with the capture of Chenzhou, where he smashed its east gate with his war elephants allowing his infantry to swarm into the city fighting bloody street to street warfare. Sun followed up the massacre, by executing tons of Qing officials and erecting piles of severed limbs to showcase it, so some old fashion Zhang Xianzhong stuff. Sun Kewang afterwards personally commanded his army to attack Baoqing alongside Feng Shuangli and Bai Wenxuan to his left and right. A veteran Qing commander named Tong Tulai held the city and upon seeing the banners of Sun Kewang in the middle formation order the concentration of his forces fire upon the center units. Both sides took equal and heavy casualties, but soon Sun Kewangs army broke and fled with Tong Tulai choosing not to pursue, probably learning a lesson from Prince Nikan's demise.    Sun's defeat at Baoqing and Liu Wenxiu's defeat at Baoning convinced many that Sun Kewang was an incompetant military leader and that he had wasted over 3 years training his forces for nothing. Thus ironically Sun Kewangs efforts to eclipse his rival, Li Dingguo had resulted in the exact opposite, making Li look even better. Sun then began to see the Ming royal family and its ties to Li Dingguo as a threat and he would take a course of action that would effectively doom the South Ming regime.   Despite the setbacks to the strategic position of the South Ming regime in 1653 not all was entirely lost. Emperor Yongli was in a secure and stable position for once and the regime held Yunnan, Guizhou and southern Sichuan firmly. Sun Kewang had brought many Dashun,Da Xi and other bandit groups under their sphere of influence and more importantly under the control of one leader. There was even the possibility that the South Ming regime could eventually link up with the naval resistance led by Koxinga in the southeast coast, someone we will talk about later. The military successes of Li Dingguo gave the South Ming regime a huge morale boost and shocked the hell out of the Qing. But beneath the surface of all of this, things were not well internally for the Ming loyalists. As we saw countless times with the bickering amongst different factions in the South Ming regime, here again it will occur.   Sun was ambitious and jealous of his colleagues, he also shared grotesque traits of his former master Zhang Xianzhong. Emperor Yongli on the other hand was weak willed and a coward who consistently sought his personal safety over all other concerns. He was a mere puppet, content with just being a symbol. Li Dingguo had risen from a peasant leader to become a genuine Ming loyalist who was both brave and charismatic, earning the hearts of many. He did not have the administrative skill like Sun Kewang, but he was a capable military leader who could take territory. In essence the 3 men together made a formidable team, each having something of use, administrative skill for Sun, military capability for Li and a symbol of authenticity in Yongli. But this would never come into reality and the real losers of this game of thrones, would as always be the common people.    Sun Kewang from the early days of just being a bandit leader showed a very notable tendency to be sensitive to any criticism and would attack anyone who he thought slighted him. Li Dingguo was well aware that Sun planned to kill him as early as 1652, yet despite this Li tried to get Sun to work together but it only made Sun more angry and dangerous. Thus by 1653 Li began to move his forces further away from Sun before he might be enveloped. Li left Yongzhou with less than 50,000 loyal troops to Longhu Pass which allowed the Qing quickly snatch up Yongzhou as a result. From there Li went east, skirmishing sometimes with Sun troops and attacking Qing controlled cities. Li's hope was if he managed to get closer to the eastern coast he might be able to join forces with Koxinga whom for his own part was open to the idea and trying his best to join up as well.    In march of 1653, Li besieged Zhaoqing for weeks and despite heavy bombardments failed to take the city and was forced to move on and raid Guangxi. He attacked Guilin where he was wounded and forced to retreat when Qing relief forces came. As Li fought Qing forces in Guangdong and Guangxi throughout 1653, Sun Kewang dispatched Feng Shuangli to attack Li at Liuzhou. Li however, managed to ambush Feng's forces and sent him fleeing. There is a story that as Feng tried to ford a river fleeing, Li supposedly saved him from drowning and thus Feng gave his loyalty to Li and returned to Sun's camp waiting for the right moment to help Li defeat him. Li would take Guilin in late 1653 and the more actions he took the more Emperor Yongli's court saw him as a better alternative to Sun as a military protector. Soon Emperor Yongli offered Li the same rank as Sun Kewang if he could rescue him from Sun's house arrest situation. Li responded that he would be open to the idea of “escorting” Yongli to safety if he successfully took Guangdong. However, Ma Jixiang discovered these messages between Li and Yongli and gave word to Sun Kewang in January of 1654. Sun then accused Yongli of conspiring against him and initiated a plan to redistribute Li Dingguo's wives and concubines in Yunnan among the other high ranking officers, but there was general dissatisfaction amongst his ranks. Almost a full blown mutiny had occurred at one point and thus his devious plan never came to fruition.    On May 6, Sun executed what he called the 18 gentlemen of Anlong for allegedly conspiring against him. Their ringleader, Wu Zhenmin strangled himself while the others were publicly flayed and decapitated. Its been awhile since we had this gruesome stuff eh? It turns out when Yongli was accused he denied the conspiracy and threw all the 18 gentlemen under the bus to save himself. In spring of 1654, Sun with 370,000 troops prepared for another eastern campaign while Li Dingguo had launched his own into Guangdong hoping as always to link up with the infamous Koxinga. Li managed to push all the way to Gaozhou, located in the southeast of the province. Next he besieged Xinhui just a bit south of Guangzhou. While he besieged Xinhui he asked Koxinga for assistance, but this never came to fruition and thus the siege lagged into 1655. Li's situation became very desperate, his men were soon reduced to eating their own horses. Then Qing reinforcements commanded by Shang Kexi arrived and despite Li having arrayed his cannons and elephants for defense the cannons allegedly were not working properly during the battle, allowing the Qing to take some high ground against him. Shang Kexi and his colleague Geng Jimao from the vantage point were able to outflank Li and cause his elephants to rout running through his own army causing massive chaos. Li had already lost countless thousand during the siege and the Qing attack simply broke them, they soon fled for their lives. Shang Kexi boasted “they scattered like rats before the might of the Qing”.    Li fled back southwest with the remnants of his forces, around 10,000 men, with just 3 war elephants left and a possible 60-70 thousand refugees as he was pursued by the Qing. He was finally able to breathe when he destroyed a bridge behind himself stranding the Qing and managing to escape to Nanning. The Qing quickly grabbed up multiple cities and Li's eastern campaign had ended in complete failure. With just a single battle at Xinhui, over 3 years of Ming victories had been swept away.    Meanwhile Sun had launched an assault on Changde in the summer of 1655, bringing with him Liu Wenxiu who had tried to retire in dismay from his major defeat, but Sun would not allow this. When his forces got close to Changde they were ambushed by Qing forces and had to make a fighting retreat, losing 6 subsequent battles to them. Many of Sun's forces fell to the Qing, starvation and disease. Feng Shuangli was wounded and some other 40 generals simply surrendered to the Qing in what became a catastrophic campaign. One thing made Hong Chengchou uneasy despite the great victories, the Ming forces under Sun seemed to be using riverine units to great effect. Thus Chengchou began to pressure the Qing to put more funding into naval capabilities. You see Sun and Li both had mastered using boats to move units quicker through river systems, as cavalry was scarce and their operations required fast mobility. The use of these riverine units alluded the Qing countless times as the Qing did not possess a great number of boats themselves nor plan to build too many.   Throughout 1655 the Qing pushed through Guangxi defeating multiple bandit groups. Li Dingguo in the meantime was returning to Nanning in late 1655, but would soon flee when the Qing attacked the city in February of 1656. It became evident that Li Dingguo was edging closer and closer to Anlong to attempt a rescue of Emperor Yongli, prompting Sun Kewang to order the forceful movement of the emperor. He appointed his subordinate Bai Wenxuan for the task of moving the emperor, completely unaware that Bai was secretly working with  Li Dingguo to relocate Emperor Yongli to Yunnan where Li had a powerbase. As Sun continued to campaign in eastern Sichuan, Li dingguo and Bai Wenxuan sent word to Emperor Yongli to try and convince the him to move to Yunnan. It was a major risk as Li only had 6000 troops under his control at the time and Sun had more than 50,000 garrisoning various places, many of which were in Yunnan. Li then tried to appeal to the Ming loyalism of the commanders scattered about, accusing Sun Kewang of quote “sinking to a depth from which he could not return to allegiance”. He also bribed the hell out of them. In turn Liu Wenxiu turned his back on Sun and made his way to join Li dingguo. Li then dispatched his subordinate Jin Tongwu to take Emperor Yongli to Yunnan in early 1656, but Sun Kewang sent some agents of his own to retrieve the emperor. So basically we are seeing a situation in which Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang are both trying to win the Ming loyalists to their respective side and portraying themselves as being the true savior of the Emperor. By the way if most of this story sounds oddly familiar to parts of the 3 Kingdoms stories its not a coincidence, all the characters were avid readers of those stories and were actively portraying the events as such.    What ends up winning the day, was the cunning and deceptive alliance between Li dingguo and Bai Wenxuan, because despite all that was going on, it seems Sun still thought Bai Wenxuan was his loyal man helping move the emperor for him. At a crucial moment, Sun Kewang sent an army to apprehend the emperor and Bai Wenxuan stopped the force saying “The Son of Heaven is here. Kewang wants to be a murderous traitor. If you wish to do that which is right, how can you follow the commands of an evil murderer and thus counter the Way of Heaven?”.  Meanwhile he was sending letters to Sun Kewang explaining that he would be delivering the Emperor to Guiyang in a few days and not to worry. This deception bought enough time for Li Dingguo and his smaller army to sneak into Anlong and convince 2 Ming commanders, Pang Tianshou and Ma Jixiang (yup Sun's spy loyal man) to switch their allegiances to him. Li dingguo consolidated the forces with those of Ben Wenxuan and they began to escort Emperor Yongli out of Anlong on February 20th.    It is said the populace lined up the roads and wept for joy as Emperor Yongli entered Yunnan alongside Li Dingguo. The emperor quickly occupied Sun Kewangs former residence in Kunming and once he felt safe and comfortable he began to distribute new titles and office to all those who aided his escape. Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu were named the Princes of Jin and Shu. Despite all of the craziness, Li Dingguo still hoped to bring Sun Kewang back into the fold and sent Liu Wenxiu back to Guiyang as an envoy. However Emperor Yongli advised Liu not to go in person, remembering the execution of the 18 gentlemen of Anlong, so instead Liu wrote a letter in blood to Sun Kewang. Li even sent out Sun's servants and concubines and the deceptive Bai Wenxuan back to him in a show of good faith. Sun responded as you might guess, angrily, so he sent his own envoys in return as a sign of good faith. In truth he had sent spies such as Wang Ziqi and Zhang Hu, who to his delight sent back word quickly that Li Dingguo only had 20,000 troops. Thus Sun Kewang eagerly prepared for war against Li, not realizing many of his top commanders had changed their allegiances such as his subordinate, Zhang Hu, I guess he can be called a double agent. Bai Wenxuan for his part notified Li that peace was assuredly not an option. On top of this Sun had sent some agents throughout Guizhou and Yunnan to garrison positions and prepare for war which really tipped Li off. Li Dingguo and Liu Wenxiu each sent letters from Kunming to Koxinga hoping for cooperation but no responses came.    During all of this, the Qing were consolidating their empire, especially in Sichuan.  The skirmishes between Sun and Li had enabled the Qing to  grab most of Southwest China. Yet Southern Sichuan was still extremely chaotic. Maimed people walked everywhere, corpses littered the fields, cannibalism was rampant and people were paying taxes to differing authorities. Sun Kewang still held considerable authority in Southern Sichuan. Li Guoying was promoted to governor general of Shaanxi and Sichuan in 1657 and the Qing hoped some martial law might speed up the pacification and end the nightmare that had reigned for over a decade at this point. Li Guoying pointing out that Sichuan contained a mishmash of refugees from all the ongoing wars. There were Eight banner troops, bandits, Ming loyalists, Dashun and Daxi remnants and all these groups made it very difficult to determine reliability and suitability for service under the Qing. Li Guoying thought increasing agricultural productivity would win over most and set to work doing so. Meanwhile Hong Chengchou was gathering forces and supplies in Huguang while promoting agricultural productivity. Thus both Li and Hong were running similar programs trying to win the hearts of the populace to their side.   Now as I mentioned, the Qing took Nanning in 1656 and soon realized that Li Dingguo had slipped away to Anlong. The Qing commanders worried that their supply lines were stretched too thin and Hong Chengchou favored using Guilin as a main base of operations for enclosing the southwest. To Hong Chengchou the main threat was Emperor Yongli and his entourage because he held the most significant challenge to the Qing that of legitimacy. The Qing had word of the growing war between Li Dingguo and Sun Kewang and chose to allow Hong Chengchou to build up his forces and supplies for the time being and let the enemy rot a bit from within. The entire time the Ming were bickering, the Qing were amping up agricultural production in multiple provinces winning over more and more of the populace.    In the summer of 1657 Sun and Li finally came after another. Sun with a 140,000 strong army marched upon Yunnan leaving Feng Shuangli to hold Guiyang. Li and Liu had around 50,000 troops and took up a position at Qujing building up wooden defenses there. By this point Li and Liu had persuaded many of Sun's subordinates to turncoat using every means possible, but despite this they still feared the upcoming clash. Sun arrayed his force into 36 brigades once he hit the Yunnan border and made his way to the nearest city, Jiaoshui. When the 2 armies came 10 miles from each other, Sun placed Bai Wenxuan in his vanguard which would prove a disastrous mistake. Turns out Sun's spies finally told him Bai Wenxuan was a turncoat, so Sun rightfully threw him in front, but unbeknownst to him Bai knew Sun knew and planned for this. Oh how the turntables? At the critical start of the battle Bai sent a signal and his troops wheeled around smashing into Sun's other commanders, aided by another turncoat general. Before Sun could respond, the turncoat units were eliminating his loyal units 1 by 1. Sun panicked and sought to withdraw, but 2 of his loyal subordinates Ma Bao and Ma Weixing both promised they would capture Bai and Liu vowing to quote “eat Bai's flesh for his betrayal. We outnumber them 10 to 1, when one person advances, we retreat. Are there no men among us?”. Thus Sun sent Mao Bao and another subordinate Zhang Sheng with 4000 troops to make a flanking maneuver while he drove straight into the vanguard himself. The outcome was catastrophic. Ma Weixing simply bolted away, Zhang fled towards Kunming hoping to switch sides and Ma Bao did not follow through because it turned out he was also a turncoat. There are even accounts that Ma Bao's men were firing blanks to look like they were helping. To make matters worse, Li Dingguo was fed intel provided by Bai Wenxuan and personally led his units to hit Sun's weakest spot. When Liu Wenxiu advanced, many of Sun's subordinate began to chant “Welcome, Prince Jin! Welcome Prince Jin!” as they cast off their uniforms and defected. Soon banners of Li and Liu were filling the battleground, Sun was being undone by his own army. Even though Sun's loyal forces still outnumbered the enemy 3-1 they quickly collapsed and Sun was forced to flee.    Sun and just a few dozen followers fled through thick forests making their way to the nearest town which was named Puding…haha Puding, anyways of all people Ma Jinzhong was holding the town and he closed the gates on them. When Sun screamed at the gates he was the ruler of the realm, Ma retorted “The ruler of the realm left with an army of 160,000. Now there are only a few thousand. You are certainly bandits.” Next Sun and his followers ran to Guiyang with Liu hot on their heels. When Sun approached the gates of his old capital he found them barred by Feng Shuangli. Feng did however allow Sun to take his family and continue running and Sun also secretly ordered his followers to rape and kill the wife of Bai Wenxuan who was in Guiyangat the time. Soon Sun ran into an underling of Li Dingguo named Li Bengao. He said to Bengao “Bengao, is that my old companion? You've received my favor, but now you want to kill you ruler huh?” Bengao replied “As a court officer it is simple to know the duties of a lord and minister. Bengao does not kill his lord; I've come to kill the leader of bandits.”. But before Bengao could kill Sun, one of Sun's followers snuck up and shot Bengao dead with an arrow. Sun decided enough was enough and to defect to the Qing and did so at Baoqing on December 19th of 1657. He cut his hair in the Manchu fashion and was invested as the Prince of Yi, but would not live too much longer as he died of illness in 1660, some allege he was executed secretly for having dealings with the Koxinga regime in Taiwan.    Speaking of Koxinga, fresh from his victory over Sun, Li Dingguo yet again sent another letter to Koxinga asking if they could join forces and attack Nanjing, but this never came to be. Li Dingguo had a short lived victory as he soon had to perform mop up operations against Sun's loyalists in Yunnan. Li reportedly lost upto 90% of his best commanders and troops simply cleaning up the remnants of Sun, leaving him with a terribly green force to resist the inevitable Qing invasion to come. To make matters worse Liu Wenxiu died of illness in late 1658. Li distrusted most of the commanders at his side as they had been Sun's former commanders and without Liu he simply had too much to do by himself. Remember how Li kept trying to bring Sun Kewang back into the fold, despite the man was trying to kill him? Well you can see why here, despite Li being an incredible military leader, when it came to governance and state building, he simply was not very good at it. He was used to mobile armies, wandering the provinces and plundering while on the move. Sitting idle and trying to build up forces, taxation, production, even defenses works was sort of not his forte. Before L    iu had died, on his deathbed he told Li he should flee and establish a new base of operations in Shaanxi or maybe sail down the Yangtze to join Koxinga. The loss of Liu was a hard one, as Li trusted pretty much no other former commanders under Sun, apart from Bai Wenxuan who proved quite helpful. Regardless Li strove on preparing what defenses he could. 3 Qing armies advanced on Yunnan from 3 directions, planning to converge upon Kunming. Wu Sangui marched from Sichuan, Loto would march from Huguang, Jobeti from Guangxi and Hong Chengchou held overall command. At this time Hong Chengchou was quite old and his health was failing him so he could not take a field command. Just because he was old and ill did not mean he did not have some sneaky tricks however. Hong Chengchou sent a number of spies into Yunnan to gather intel and perform a misinformation campaign to lead Li Dingguo's forces to believe the Qing were much further away than they were.   Wu Sangui's force departed Baoning and first came upon Chengdu which he described to be “a den of tigers, leopards, and bears”. The city was still a wasteland and it is estimated only 2% of the population was alive. Things proved to be just as bad in Chongqing, when Wu and his colleague Li Guohan approached the first things they saw were corpses and bones littering the roads. Unlike Chengdu, Wu's force was hampered at Chongqing by bandit armies, but the Qing artillery proved enough to break them after several battles. It is said the Qing artillery blasted from shorelines filling the river with the bodies of bandits.    The Qing armies advanced through Sichuan, Guangxi and Guizhou battling bandit armies everywhere they went. The more they advanced however, the more easily bandits surrendered and defections began to pour in. Loto captured Guiyang from Ma Jingzhong and within 3 months nearly all of Guizhou fell to the Qing. By 1658 most of the Ming resistance in Huguang and Jiangxi had been smashed with only some large bandit groups holding out. Thus it was decided in 1658 to finally march on Yunnan. Despite the field commanders eagerness, Hong Chengchou advised them all that they had thus far taken mostly empty or under armed cities and they only had a month or so supplies left. He cautioned them that they should advance slowly. Emperor Shunzhi received reports from Hong Chengchou and likewise ordered them to delay their advances so they could recover somewhat and supply up. Alongside this Emperor Shunzhi stressed the necessity to win over the populace as they conquered ““establish order out of chaos and rescue the people.”. Despite these orders, many scholars point out that this stage of the war was quite bloody on the side of the Qing and many commoners suffered.   Meanwhile Li Dingguo had sent Bai Wenxuan to guard the Qixing Pass with 40,000 troops, Wu Zisheng to guard the route from Anlong and other units to the Pan River in the east where he planned to make a base of operations. Li was looking for a place to break away, considering Sichuan or even Vietnam, but the Qing had taken their time to envelop Yunnan forcing him into a corner. Li mobilized the army to go east to defend the approaches to Yunnan and won a few minor battles killing more than 10,000 Qing troops. Despite the victories, the Qing numerical superiority simply overwhelmed Li's forces quickly and they soon had to pull back further into Yunnan.   Li brought his forces to Shuanghekou and Jobtei climbed a nearby mountain to study Li's army formation, searching for signs of weakness. When the battle commenced, Li's forces launched a cannonade, but the wind suddenly blew all the smoke from the cannonade into his battle lines faces. On Top of the blinding effect the smoke lit tall grass on fire all amongst his army. His army had to pull back and in the disarray, allowing Jobtei to outflank Li catching him in a pincer forcing Li to flee. Li's army fled to Kunming destroying bridges as they did to delay the Qing forces. Meanwhile Wu Sangui had intel on an alternate route to get past Bai Wenxuans forces at Qixing Pass and managed to get behind him forcing Bai's force to flee to Zhanyi. The initial campaign to defend Yunnan was a colossal failure. Li lost an estimated 30-40 thousand men, most of them his few surviving veterans with whom held more than 10 years of experience fighting battles from Sichuan to Guangdong. 30 officers were gone, most of his war elephants were also gone and the Qing were now marching on Qujing. Li sent words back to Kunming urging Emperor Yongli to flee. Li would make it back to Kunming by January 5th 1659 and the court of Yongli began to plan their next place to make a stand. Li favored a retreat into Sichuan in the hope of joining some large bandit armies they had friendly connections with. Others in the court argued it was too dangerous and that there was little offensive potential in Sichuan. Many argued they should flee west through Yunnan into Burma. Others said they should flee into Vietnam and perhaps sail out to join Koxinga. But as they debated it turned out the Qing foresaw some of their actions and blocked the way into Vietnam and in the end the decision was made to flee west into Burma.   The royal entourage was around 4300 men that departed Kunming. Li ordered everything that could not be carried to be torched, but the people lamented him for this and he soon changed his mind about the torching. Before leaving he told the people of Kunming “We have stayed in Yunnan for many years and we regard you people as a father regards his sons. But now national affairs have reached dire proportions and the court must move. You may share our hardships together. For I fear that when the Qing troops arrive, they will kill, loot, and rape, and it will be difficult to escape. If you do not flee with his majesty, you should each get far away quickly. Those who don't have only themselves to blame”. This drove the city's populace to abandon the city while weeping for the doom that was brought upon them. The march was a rough one, food became scarce and many died of starvation and disease. They eventually made it to Yongchang in early 1659 as the Qing hit Kunming and to their great surprise found it was fully intact and supplies were everywhere to be found. Li's change of heart on the torching would cost him greatly as the Qing forces recovered several months of supplies in Kunming. Meanwhile some of the Emperors entourage did not want to go west such as Ai Chengye who instead sought to establish ambushes for the Qing, hoping to join Li and the emperor later. Bai Wenxuan began to establish defenses between Dali and Yongchang to delay the Qing as well. It was decided to cover Emperor Yongli's flight, Bai would hold the rearguard while Li rode with the Emperors entourage.    The Qing continued their advance as Bai Wenxuan tried to delay them but suffered multiple defeats and lost countless soldiers, officers and elephants. Meanwhile Li destroyed the bridge at Lancang River hoping to further delay the Qing, but the Qing were very efficient at building rafts and crossed each river with ease. The Qing would reach Yongchang in March of 1659 and proceed to plunder it heavily. Li and Bai held a council of war and Li argued they should try to fight a decisive battle in Yunnan, but Bai argued that Emperor Yongli's safety was more important.    Regardless Li was adamant about fighting and set up multiple ambushes along the mountain range of Mount Mopan west of the Nu River. With only 6000 troops against around 12,000 of a Qing vanguard, Li felt he could do some damage. He split his forces into 3 groups stationed them in ambush sites to hit the vanguard of Wu Sangui. Wu Sangui's vanguard had been having a few easy days with no real excitement so he was marching with a loose formation into the mountain range not expecting an attack. The ambush signal was triggered and Wu immediately ordered a retreat as all hell broke loose and cannons and arrows rained down upon his men. Combat raged all over the mountain range and Li Dingguo got shrapnel into his face as he directed the battle. The fighting went on for half a day seeing corpses pill up on both sides like mountains. In the end Li made a fighting withdrawal. The Ming forces ended up losing a third of their total numbers while inflicting upto 10,000 casualties upon the Qing. After the battle Wu Sangui remarked that Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan were indeed great military commanders and they should tread lightly.    The carnage in the mountains bought more time for Emperor Yongli to continue to move into Burma. Li and a few thousand troops fled south camping at Menggen inside Burma and Bai Wenxuan camped at Mubang. When Li and Bai entered Burma they took care not to attack any Burmese forces they were with the Emperor afterall.  As for Emperor Yongli when the entourage entered the Burmese border, the royal party was disarmed by local border guards and apprehended. They were taken by boat over the Irrawaddy river to the capital city of Ava. By this time their entourage was nothing more than 1478 members of which only 600 or so were allowed to be on the boats, the rest had to walk it through thick jungle. Hundreds died to disease while trekking the jungles, some went south to Siam instead, others ended up being captured as slaves. Emperor Yongli's party made it to Ava, completely unaware Li and Bai were trying to find them and one of his court officials was sending word to them that Emperor Yongli had instead fled to Fujian. Over the next 2 years, Li and Bai under the believe that Emperor Yongli was kidnapped, and perhaps he was for all intensive purposes, began to make repeated rescue efforts.    Meanwhile the Qing consolidated their position in Yunnan and their enormous occupational force was exacerbating the province, soon famine spread. For both the populace of Yunnan and the Qing forces the situation was growing quite dire. The costs for garrisoning Yunnan was estimated to exceed the entire military revenue for the empire, over 9 million taels of silver. The situation grew worse when Li Dingguo began to work with local chieftains to form rebellions against the Qing menace. The trouble of banditry and rebellions would plague the Qing in Yunnan for months far into 1661. While some Qing commanders like Wu Sangui pushed for apprehending Emperor Yongli as soon as possible, Hong Chengchou favored a gradual pacification of Yunnan before campaigning. Hong had seen the countless failures in Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou and understood the need to win the hearts of the populace so that victory would be less costly.    Meanwhile back in Burma, Bai Wenxuan advanced towards Ava trying to rescue Emperor Yongli who he assumed had been kidnapped. This led the Burmese forces to treat both Bai and Li's small armies as threats. Bai and Li consolidated their armies and defeated a Burmese force killing several thousand. After defeating the Burmese force they negotiated a 3 day truce asking for the Burmese to hand over the emperor. After 3 days instead of handing him over the Burmese sent another army to attack them and they were swiftly defeated. When they demanded the Emperor be handed over again the Burmese commander said “Now how can we send [Yongli] to you? You have the temerity to attack our city, but the land and water [i.e., terrain] don't favor you. We can hold out for two to three years without fear.”. Thus they continued to march on Ava and besieged it, prompting the king of Burma to amass over 150,000 troops with 100 war elephants to defend the capital. The entire time Li and Bai both tried to write countless letters to the emperor failing countless times, but then one letter got through in 1661 and Yongli responded ““Use unorthodox troops to rescue me.”. Thus they did just that, they made a direct attack on the city preparing to cross the Irrawaddy to hit the walls of Ava. That night they opened fire with their heavy cannons and began building floating bridges.   As you can imagine the Ming forces were outnumbered by something like 10 to 1 and certainly outgunned or better said out elephanted. Regardless of their numbers the Burmese using the cover of night, to cut the bridges to Ava forcing the Ming forces to pull back. Then in april of 1661 a Burmese army of 150,000 with apparently 1000 war elephants showed up and gave battle, that number has to be inflated, 1000 war elephants what is this the siege of Minas Tirith? Anyways it is said, Li Dingguo went forth to the front of battle with a large sword and grabbed an elephants tusk as he hacked its trunk off. The elephant fled afterwards making Li the largest bad ass I've ever heard of, and that poor elephant. It is also said Bai Wenxuan managed to perform a rear flank attack killing thousands and drove the Burmese army back, which must of been incredible given the disparity of numbers, 10,000 guys managed to defeat an army of 150,000 and 1000 elephants, yeah. The Ming proceeded to continue building the fleet of boats and rafts after the battle and besieged Ava yet again. The Burmese sent word they would release Yongli if the siege was lifted, I am pretty confused writing about this one, its as if the Burmese army was a paper army or something. I mean this Ming force is 10,000 or less how are they managing to defeat the capital of Burma?. Regardless the Burmese did not hand over the emperor and instead began to construct more defenses in Ava.    Meanwhile the Qing sent letters to Li and Bai to defect to the Qing as they were mobilizing their own assault on Burma to grab Yongli. In june of 1661 the King of Burma, Pindale was executed and replaced by his brother, Pye Min who assumed a more aggressive stance against the Ming forces. For his enthronement there was a “water spirit” ceremony and an official of Yongli's court, Mu Tianbo was chosen to be sacrificed. Mu Tianbo fought ferociously, killing a few guards before being executed. After this Emperor Yongli lost all hope and lamented “The Dowager Empress is sick again and it looks like I will be unable to go back [to China] because the Tartars are coming to kill me. So please return the Dowager Empress's bones to her old home. Now it's obvious that I've been duped by traitorous ministers. If only I had invested Bai Wenxuan as a Prince of the Blood and Ma Bao as a secondary prince and followed the counsel of the meritorious officials, then I wouldn't have these regrets. Still playing the part of the Son of Heaven, he also expressed regret at the fate of his loyal subjects in Yunnan, who were reportedly suffering at the hands of Wu Sangui and Hong Chengchou.”   When Bai and Li heard of the execution they panicked and launched one final attack on Ava. This time they tried to use their 16 boats to get across to the city, but their force was driven back after only 3 days of combat and they lost 11 boats in the process. Now Li and Bai lamented in despair for their situation was very dire. Since the Ming had entered Burma the Burmese government began opening up talks with the Qing hoping to curry favor. This facilitated the Qing march into Burma with a 100,000 strong force in 1661. The Qing immediately sought to separate the forces of Li and Bai as they advanced towards Ava. The Qing had already sent word to the Burmese King that if Yongli was not handed over immediately, Ava would be besieged. As the Qing closed in, Emperor Yongli sent a letter to Wu Sangui begging for his life, but Wu ignored it. When the Qing arrived at Ava, the Burmese told Emperor Yongli Li Dingguo was taking him away to safety as they delivered the emperor straight into the hands of the Qing. Emperor Yongli was brought to Kunming and executed on may 19th 1662 on a small hill overlooking Green Lake. Yongli and his wife were strangled and their ashes were poured around the Lotus Pond in Kunming. Wu Sangui allegedly felt remorse for not trying to save Emperor Yongli, though his story is not quite done.   Li Dingguo and Bai Wenxuan fled north trying to decide their next move, but they knew they stood no chance against the Qing force. Wu Sangui surrounded their camp and Bai lamented “I've disappointed my emperor, and I've let down Prince Jin.”. Bai then surrendered to Wu Sangui's subordinate Ma Bao who happened to be an old friend of his. Li Dingguo was given false word that Emperor Yongli escaped, but required him for rescue. By this point Li had only 5000 or so men and could do little to nothing. Li fled east, hoping as you guessed it, to jin Koxinga, the man I keep naming but never speak much about. Li tried to flee to Vietnam and slipped past the Qing who were much more preoccupied moving Emperor Yongli back to Kunming. Despite the fact Li Dingguo evaded the Qing menace, as he fled through the thick Burmese jungles he was stricken, as were his men with disease. On his death bed just as he got word that Emperor Yongli had been executed, Li Dingguo died on August 10th 1662. He died telling his remaining son to never submit to the Qing and he would be remembered as one of the great loyalist heroes in Chinese history.    10700   I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The last pretender to the Dragon throne, Emperor Yongli has been executed and adoptive offspring of Zhang Xianzhong have fallen likewise. Yunnan and the rest of south China is being consolidated into the Qing empire, all that remains is a few bandit groups, or was that all? I've mentioned his name countless times, but one problem still remains for the Qing, Koxinga over in Taiwan.

Chris is a lifelong athlete who found multidimensional healing through the practice of yoga and meditation. Upon stepping back from his semi-professional soccer career he began his yoga teacher training at The Lotus Pond and has been teaching since in various styles around the Tampa Bay Area. He believes each individual experience of union brings us closer to collective union and is passionate about holding space for this to occur.Chris Wilkinson is a man of many surprises. He constantly inspires me with his depth of knowledge in many domains, however, his ability to break down any topic into SIMPLE methods for creating more peace and harmony is remarkable. In this conversation, Chris & I cover how distractions keep us from living into our soul's purpose, death as an extension of life, and how anyone can start their meditation journey with small and simple steps.| Connect with Chris |Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/wilki_wonka/Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/chris.wilkinson.921-| Connect with Wolf |Instagram | http://bit.ly/FTW-InstagramFacebook | http://bit.ly/FTW-FacebookYoutube | https://bit.ly/FTWYoutube-| Support the Podcast |Patreon | https://bit.ly/FTWpatreon-| Listen to the Follow The Wolf Podcast |Apple Podcasts | https://bit.ly/FTWappleSpotify | http://bit.ly/FTWspotifyStitcher | http://bit.ly/FTWstitcherGoogle Podcasts | http://bit.ly/FTWgoogleAmazon Music | http://bit.ly/FTW-amazonPocket Casts | https://bit.ly/FTWPocketCastsRadio Public | https://bit.ly/FTWRadioPublicTune In | https://bit.ly/FTWTuneInDeezer | https://bit.ly/FTWdeezerPodcast Website | http://bit.ly/FTWPodcastWebsite

"The sound of a group of Taiwanese elders practicing Tai Chi and guided by an instructor. Recorded at 5.30am by the Lotus Pond." Recorded in Tai Chi in Taipei Botanical Gardens by James A. Holland. Part of the 5,000 Miles project in partnership with Ithaca Studio, an immersive 360-degree audio experience that transports you to another place through the evocative sounds of places 5,000 miles from the UK through spatial audio technology and ambisonic 3D recording.  The project was an immersive live experience touring festivals in 2021, and is presented online via Cities and Memory at www.citiesandmemory.com/5000-miles.

Travel is not a reward of working, it's the education of living. ~Anthony Bourdain旅行不是工作後的獎賞，他是生活的教育。Travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer. 旅行是唯一一件花錢又會讓你變得更富有的事情。The best investment is to invest in yourself. 最好的投資就是投資在你身上。AngelaI think Lotus Pond attracts a lot of people and the Harbor area is full of activity and life. And it's very artsy there now. So these two places and a lot of nature that is easy to get to from Kaohsiung as well.我認為蓮池潭吸引很多人，還有港口也總是充滿活動和人。現在那邊也感覺越來越有藝文氣息了。所以這兩個地方還有自然景觀都是非常容易從高雄過去的。*我最喜歡靠近港口的兩個地方，Pier Two（駁二）還有Banana Pier （香蕉碼頭）DonnyWell, I think the mountain is one of the best parts of Kaohsiung because I like to be outdoors. I like nature. I like running, I like hiking. I like running on mountains. Um, I like to see the coastal region there. It's very beautiful. Um, so the mountain is definitely one of my favorite places. Mainly Kaohsiung is a good place to live. If you want to live a more laid back and quiet life, and get on with your own things. It doesn't really have so many big attractions.我認為山是高雄最棒的部分，因為我喜歡在戶外，和自然，我喜歡跑步和爬山。喜歡在山上跑步。我也喜歡在那邊看海岸的區域，非常美。所以山絕對是我最喜歡的地方。高雄在許多方面來說是個很好居住的地方，如果你想要住在比較悠閒又安靜，可以好好做自己想做的事情的話。它真的沒有太多的景點。明天的內容是：他們會回答這個問題：What is the main language in Kaohsiung? 高雄的主要語言是什麼？

Travel is not a reward of working, it's the education of living. ~Anthony Bourdain旅行不是工作後的獎賞，他是生活的教育。Travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer. 旅行是唯一一件花錢又會讓你變得更富有的事情。The best investment is to invest in yourself. 最好的投資就是投資在你身上。AngelaI think Lotus Pond attracts a lot of people and the Harbor area is full of activity and life. And it's very artsy there now. So these two places and a lot of nature that is easy to get to from Kaohsiung as well.我認為蓮池潭吸引很多人，還有港口也總是充滿活動和人。現在那邊也感覺越來越有藝文氣息了。所以這兩個地方還有自然景觀都是非常容易從高雄過去的。*我最喜歡靠近港口的兩個地方，Pier Two（駁二）還有Banana Pier （香蕉碼頭）DonnyWell, I think the mountain is one of the best parts of Kaohsiung because I like to be outdoors. I like nature. I like running, I like hiking. I like running on mountains. Um, I like to see the coastal region there. It's very beautiful. Um, so the mountain is definitely one of my favorite places. Mainly Kaohsiung is a good place to live. If you want to live a more laid back and quiet life, and get on with your own things. It doesn't really have so many big attractions.我認為山是高雄最棒的部分，因為我喜歡在戶外，和自然，我喜歡跑步和爬山。喜歡在山上跑步。我也喜歡在那邊看海岸的區域，非常美。所以山絕對是我最喜歡的地方。高雄在許多方面來說是個很好居住的地方，如果你想要住在比較悠閒又安靜，可以好好做自己想做的事情的話。它真的沒有太多的景點。明天的內容是：他們會回答這個問題：What is the main language in Kaohsiung? 高雄的主要語言是什麼？

Travel is not a reward of working, it's the education of living. ~Anthony Bourdain旅行不是工作後的獎賞，他是生活的教育。Travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer. 旅行是唯一一件花錢又會讓你變得更富有的事情。The best investment is to invest in yourself. 最好的投資就是投資在你身上。AngelaI think Lotus Pond attracts a lot of people and the Harbor area is full of activity and life. And it's very artsy there now. So these two places and a lot of nature that is easy to get to from Kaohsiung as well.我認為蓮池潭吸引很多人，還有港口也總是充滿活動和人。現在那邊也感覺越來越有藝文氣息了。所以這兩個地方還有自然景觀都是非常容易從高雄過去的。*我最喜歡靠近港口的兩個地方，Pier Two（駁二）還有Banana Pier （香蕉碼頭）DonnyWell, I think the mountain is one of the best parts of Kaohsiung because I like to be outdoors. I like nature. I like running, I like hiking. I like running on mountains. Um, I like to see the coastal region there. It's very beautiful. Um, so the mountain is definitely one of my favorite places. Mainly Kaohsiung is a good place to live. If you want to live a more laid back and quiet life, and get on with your own things. It doesn't really have so many big attractions.我認為山是高雄最棒的部分，因為我喜歡在戶外，和自然，我喜歡跑步和爬山。喜歡在山上跑步。我也喜歡在那邊看海岸的區域，非常美。所以山絕對是我最喜歡的地方。高雄在許多方面來說是個很好居住的地方，如果你想要住在比較悠閒又安靜，可以好好做自己想做的事情的話。它真的沒有太多的景點。明天的內容是：他們會回答這個問題：What is the main language in Kaohsiung? 高雄的主要語言是什麼？

Travel is not a reward of working, it's the education of living. ~Anthony Bourdain旅行不是工作後的獎賞，他是生活的教育。Travel is the only thing you spend money on that makes you richer. 旅行是唯一一件花錢又會讓你變得更富有的事情。The best investment is to invest in yourself. 最好的投資就是投資在你身上。AngelaI think Lotus Pond attracts a lot of people and the Harbor area is full of activity and life. And it's very artsy there now. So these two places and a lot of nature that is easy to get to from Kaohsiung as well.我認為蓮池潭吸引很多人，還有港口也總是充滿活動和人。現在那邊也感覺越來越有藝文氣息了。所以這兩個地方還有自然景觀都是非常容易從高雄過去的。*我最喜歡靠近港口的兩個地方，Pier Two（駁二）還有Banana Pier （香蕉碼頭）DonnyWell, I think the mountain is one of the best parts of Kaohsiung because I like to be outdoors. I like nature. I like running, I like hiking. I like running on mountains. Um, I like to see the coastal region there. It's very beautiful. Um, so the mountain is definitely one of my favorite places. Mainly Kaohsiung is a good place to live. If you want to live a more laid back and quiet life, and get on with your own things. It doesn't really have so many big attractions.我認為山是高雄最棒的部分，因為我喜歡在戶外，和自然，我喜歡跑步和爬山。喜歡在山上跑步。我也喜歡在那邊看海岸的區域，非常美。所以山絕對是我最喜歡的地方。高雄在許多方面來說是個很好居住的地方，如果你想要住在比較悠閒又安靜，可以好好做自己想做的事情的話。它真的沒有太多的景點。明天的內容是：他們會回答這個問題：What is the main language in Kaohsiung? 高雄的主要語言是什麼？

Moonlight on the Lotus Pond作者:朱自清英译：王椒升 这几天心里颇不宁静。今晚在院子里坐着乘凉，忽然想起日日走过的荷塘，在这满月的光里，总该另有一番样子吧。月亮渐渐地升高了，墙外马路上孩子们的欢笑，已经听不见了；妻在屋里拍着闰儿，迷迷糊糊地哼着眠歌。我悄悄地披了大衫，带上门出去。Of late, I have been in a rather uneasy frame of mind. Sitting in my courtyard enjoying the cool evening, I suddenly thought of the lotus pond that I pass on my way day in and day out. Tonight, it must have a charm all its own, bathed in the light of the full moon. The moon was now rising slowly. Beyond the wall, the happy laughter of children on the road had died away. So putting on my coat quietly, I went out closing the door softly behind me. 沿着荷塘，是一条曲折的小煤屑路。这是一条幽僻的路；白天也少人走，夜晚更加寂寞。荷塘四面，长着许多树，蓊蓊郁郁的。路的一旁，是些杨柳，和一些不知道名字的树。没有月光的晚上，这路上阴森森的，有些怕人。今晚却很好，虽然月光也还是淡淡的。 A path paved with coal-dust zigzags along the lotus pond, so secluded as to be little frequented in the daytime, to say nothing of its loneliness at night. Around the pond grows a profusion of luxuriant trees. On one side of the path are some willows and other plants whose names are unknown to me. On moonless nights, the place has a gloomy, somewhat forbidding appearance. But on this particular evening, it had a cheerful outlook, though the moon was pale. 曲曲折折的荷塘上面，弥望的是田田的叶子。叶子出水很高，像亭亭的舞女的裙。层层的叶子中间，零星地点缀着些白花，有袅娜地开着的，有羞涩地打着朵儿的；正如一粒粒的明珠，又如碧天里的星星，又如刚出浴的美人。微风过处，送来缕缕清香，仿佛远处高楼上渺茫的歌声似的。这时候叶子与花也有一丝的颤动，像闪电般，霎时传过荷塘的那边去了。叶子本是肩并肩密密地挨着，这便宛然有了一道凝碧的波痕。叶子底下是脉脉的流水，遮住了，不能见一些颜色；而叶子却更见风致了。 On the uneven surface of the pond, all one could see was a mass of leaves, all interlaced and shooting high above the water like the skirts of slim dancing girls. The leaves were dotted in between the layers with white flowers, some blooming gracefully; others, as if bashfully, still in bud. They were like bright pearls and stars in an azure sky. Their subtle fragrance was wafted by the passing breeze, in airy whiffs as the notes of a song coming faintly from some distant tower. There was a tremor on leaf and flower, which, with the suddenness of lightning, soon drifted to the far end of the pond. The leaves, jostling and overlapping, produced, as it were, a wave of deep green. Under the leaves, softly hidden from view, water was rippling even its colour was discernible so that the leaves looked more enchanting. 月光如流水一般，静静地泻在这一片叶子和花上。薄薄的青雾浮起在荷塘里。叶子和花仿佛在牛乳中洗过一样；又像笼着轻纱的梦。虽然是满月，天上却有一层淡淡的云，所以不能朗照；但我以为这恰是到了好处——酣眠固不可少，小睡也别有风味的。月光是隔了树照过来的，高处丛生的灌木，落下参差的斑驳的黑影，峭楞楞如鬼一般；弯弯的杨柳的稀疏的倩影，却又像是画在荷叶上。塘中的月色并不均匀；但光与影有着和谐的旋律，如梵婀玲上奏着的名曲。 Moonlight was flowing quietly like a stream down to the leaves and flowers. A light mist overspread the lotus pond. Leaf and flower seemed washed in milk. It was a full moon, but a pale cloud hanging overhead made it lose some of its brilliance. Moonlight was glowing from behind the trees, and the dense shrubs above cast down gloomy ghostlike shadows of varying lengths and shades of colour. But the beautiful sparse shadows of the arching willows were like a picture etched on the lotus leaves. Uneven as was the moonlight over the pond, there was a harmony between light and shade, rhythmic as a well-known melody played on the violin.荷塘的四面，远远近近，高高低低都是树，而杨柳最多。这些树将一片荷塘重重围住；只在小路一旁，漏着几段空隙，像是特为月光留下的。树色一例是阴阴的，乍看像一团烟雾；但杨柳的丰姿，便在烟雾里也辨得出。树梢上隐隐约约的是一带远山，只有些大意罢了。树缝里也漏着一两点路灯光，没精打采的，是渴睡人的眼。这时候最热闹的，要数树上的蝉声与水里的蛙声；但热闹是它们的，我什么也没有。Skirting the lotus pond, far and near, high and low, are trees among which willows predominate. They entirely envelop the pond, leaving only a few spaces on one side of the path, as if purposely for the moonbeams to penetrate. The trees were now all enshrouded in a heavy gloom, which at first sight looked like a pall of mist, but the lovely shape of the willows remained distinguishable in spite of it. Distant hills loomed above the tree-tops in dim outline. Here and there, a few rays from street-lamps filtered through the trees, listless as the eyes of one who is dozing. At this moment, most lively were the cicadas chirping in the trees and the frogs croaking under the water. But theirs was all the merry-making, in which I did not have the least share. 忽然想起采莲的事情来了。采莲是江南的旧俗，似乎很早就有，而六朝时为盛；从诗歌里可以约略知道。于是又记起《西洲曲》里的句子：采莲南塘秋，莲花过人头；低头弄莲子，莲子清如水。今晚若有采莲人，这儿的莲花也算得“过人头”了；只不见一些流水的影子，是不行的。这令我到底惦着江南了。 Then all of a sudden, I was reminded of the custom of plucking lotus seeds prevalent in Jiangnan, handed down probably from a very remote period and becoming quite popular during the Six Dynasties, as may be seen roughly in songs and poems that survive. This in turn revived my memory of the following lines in the‘West Islet Ditty: In autumn I pluck lotus seeds in the South Pond, Tall are the lotus plants, taller than me. My head bent low, with lotus seeds I play, Green, green as water all the lotus seeds I see.‘ If there were people plucking lotus seeds here tonight, they might indeed find lotus plants exceeding them in height；but the absence of the merest shadow of flowing water would spoil it. And that is what has set me thinking about Jiangnan.

Moonlight on the Lotus Pond作者:朱自清英译：王椒升 这几天心里颇不宁静。今晚在院子里坐着乘凉，忽然想起日日走过的荷塘，在这满月的光里，总该另有一番样子吧。月亮渐渐地升高了，墙外马路上孩子们的欢笑，已经听不见了；妻在屋里拍着闰儿，迷迷糊糊地哼着眠歌。我悄悄地披了大衫，带上门出去。Of late, I have been in a rather uneasy frame of mind. Sitting in my courtyard enjoying the cool evening, I suddenly thought of the lotus pond that I pass on my way day in and day out. Tonight, it must have a charm all its own, bathed in the light of the full moon. The moon was now rising slowly. Beyond the wall, the happy laughter of children on the road had died away. So putting on my coat quietly, I went out closing the door softly behind me. 沿着荷塘，是一条曲折的小煤屑路。这是一条幽僻的路；白天也少人走，夜晚更加寂寞。荷塘四面，长着许多树，蓊蓊郁郁的。路的一旁，是些杨柳，和一些不知道名字的树。没有月光的晚上，这路上阴森森的，有些怕人。今晚却很好，虽然月光也还是淡淡的。 A path paved with coal-dust zigzags along the lotus pond, so secluded as to be little frequented in the daytime, to say nothing of its loneliness at night. Around the pond grows a profusion of luxuriant trees. On one side of the path are some willows and other plants whose names are unknown to me. On moonless nights, the place has a gloomy, somewhat forbidding appearance. But on this particular evening, it had a cheerful outlook, though the moon was pale. 曲曲折折的荷塘上面，弥望的是田田的叶子。叶子出水很高，像亭亭的舞女的裙。层层的叶子中间，零星地点缀着些白花，有袅娜地开着的，有羞涩地打着朵儿的；正如一粒粒的明珠，又如碧天里的星星，又如刚出浴的美人。微风过处，送来缕缕清香，仿佛远处高楼上渺茫的歌声似的。这时候叶子与花也有一丝的颤动，像闪电般，霎时传过荷塘的那边去了。叶子本是肩并肩密密地挨着，这便宛然有了一道凝碧的波痕。叶子底下是脉脉的流水，遮住了，不能见一些颜色；而叶子却更见风致了。 On the uneven surface of the pond, all one could see was a mass of leaves, all interlaced and shooting high above the water like the skirts of slim dancing girls. The leaves were dotted in between the layers with white flowers, some blooming gracefully; others, as if bashfully, still in bud. They were like bright pearls and stars in an azure sky. Their subtle fragrance was wafted by the passing breeze, in airy whiffs as the notes of a song coming faintly from some distant tower. There was a tremor on leaf and flower, which, with the suddenness of lightning, soon drifted to the far end of the pond. The leaves, jostling and overlapping, produced, as it were, a wave of deep green. Under the leaves, softly hidden from view, water was rippling even its colour was discernible so that the leaves looked more enchanting. 月光如流水一般，静静地泻在这一片叶子和花上。薄薄的青雾浮起在荷塘里。叶子和花仿佛在牛乳中洗过一样；又像笼着轻纱的梦。虽然是满月，天上却有一层淡淡的云，所以不能朗照；但我以为这恰是到了好处——酣眠固不可少，小睡也别有风味的。月光是隔了树照过来的，高处丛生的灌木，落下参差的斑驳的黑影，峭楞楞如鬼一般；弯弯的杨柳的稀疏的倩影，却又像是画在荷叶上。塘中的月色并不均匀；但光与影有着和谐的旋律，如梵婀玲上奏着的名曲。 Moonlight was flowing quietly like a stream down to the leaves and flowers. A light mist overspread the lotus pond. Leaf and flower seemed washed in milk. It was a full moon, but a pale cloud hanging overhead made it lose some of its brilliance. Moonlight was glowing from behind the trees, and the dense shrubs above cast down gloomy ghostlike shadows of varying lengths and shades of colour. But the beautiful sparse shadows of the arching willows were like a picture etched on the lotus leaves. Uneven as was the moonlight over the pond, there was a harmony between light and shade, rhythmic as a well-known melody played on the violin.荷塘的四面，远远近近，高高低低都是树，而杨柳最多。这些树将一片荷塘重重围住；只在小路一旁，漏着几段空隙，像是特为月光留下的。树色一例是阴阴的，乍看像一团烟雾；但杨柳的丰姿，便在烟雾里也辨得出。树梢上隐隐约约的是一带远山，只有些大意罢了。树缝里也漏着一两点路灯光，没精打采的，是渴睡人的眼。这时候最热闹的，要数树上的蝉声与水里的蛙声；但热闹是它们的，我什么也没有。Skirting the lotus pond, far and near, high and low, are trees among which willows predominate. They entirely envelop the pond, leaving only a few spaces on one side of the path, as if purposely for the moonbeams to penetrate. The trees were now all enshrouded in a heavy gloom, which at first sight looked like a pall of mist, but the lovely shape of the willows remained distinguishable in spite of it. Distant hills loomed above the tree-tops in dim outline. Here and there, a few rays from street-lamps filtered through the trees, listless as the eyes of one who is dozing. At this moment, most lively were the cicadas chirping in the trees and the frogs croaking under the water. But theirs was all the merry-making, in which I did not have the least share. 忽然想起采莲的事情来了。采莲是江南的旧俗，似乎很早就有，而六朝时为盛；从诗歌里可以约略知道。于是又记起《西洲曲》里的句子：采莲南塘秋，莲花过人头；低头弄莲子，莲子清如水。今晚若有采莲人，这儿的莲花也算得“过人头”了；只不见一些流水的影子，是不行的。这令我到底惦着江南了。 Then all of a sudden, I was reminded of the custom of plucking lotus seeds prevalent in Jiangnan, handed down probably from a very remote period and becoming quite popular during the Six Dynasties, as may be seen roughly in songs and poems that survive. This in turn revived my memory of the following lines in the‘West Islet Ditty: In autumn I pluck lotus seeds in the South Pond, Tall are the lotus plants, taller than me. My head bent low, with lotus seeds I play, Green, green as water all the lotus seeds I see.‘ If there were people plucking lotus seeds here tonight, they might indeed find lotus plants exceeding them in height；but the absence of the merest shadow of flowing water would spoil it. And that is what has set me thinking about Jiangnan.

Jason Interviews Melissa Carroll, The Yoga Writer about Her New Book, Body of Starlight, Using Shadow Work to Achieve Greater Balance, and Melissa Leads the Audience Through A Guided Meditation.    Melissa Carroll is the author of four books,  a yoga teacher, and the co-creator of the revolutionary online course Shadow + Light.  She is the editor of the essay collection Going OM: Real-Life Stories on and off the Yoga Mat (Viva Editions 2014), with a foreword by Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild. Melissa is the author of three poetry books, and her writing has appeared in Brevity, Mantra + Yoga Magazine, Elephant Journal, MindBodyGreen.com, Sivana East, and elsewhere. Melissa is on the faculty of the Yoga Teacher Training Program at The Lotus Pond, teaches writing at Ringling College of Art + Design, and  leads yoga and writing workshops and retreats all over the world. Melissa has created a free guide to help you rewrite your shadow stories with 3 of our biggest cultural myths: money, love, and time. Get your copy here: https://tinyurl.com/y52tobhp 

Jason Interviews Melissa Carroll, The Yoga Writer about Her New Book, Body of Starlight, Using Shadow Work to Achieve Greater Balance, and Melissa Leads the Audience Through A Guided Meditation.    Melissa Carroll is the author of four books,  a yoga teacher, and the co-creator of the revolutionary online course Shadow + Light.  She is the editor of the essay collection Going OM: Real-Life Stories on and off the Yoga Mat (Viva Editions 2014), with a foreword by Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild. Melissa is the author of three poetry books, and her writing has appeared in Brevity, Mantra + Yoga Magazine, Elephant Journal, MindBodyGreen.com, Sivana East, and elsewhere. Melissa is on the faculty of the Yoga Teacher Training Program at The Lotus Pond, teaches writing at Ringling College of Art + Design, and  leads yoga and writing workshops and retreats all over the world.  Melissa has created a free guide to help you rewrite your shadow stories with 3 of our biggest cultural myths: money, love, and time. Get your copy here: https://tinyurl.com/y52tobhp  

Jason Zuk will interview Melissa Carroll-The Yoga Writer about her use of mindfulness, yoga, and writing to help others.  Melissa Carroll is an Acclaimed Writer, Certified E-RYT 500 Hour Yoga Instructor, Reiki Master, and Meditation Guide.   She is the Editor of the essay collection Going OM: Real-Life Stories on and off the Yoga Mat (Viva Editions 2014), with a foreword by Cheryl Strayed, author of The New York Times Bestseller,Wild.  Melissa is the author of two poetry chapbooks:  The Pretty Machine (ELJ Publications 2016) and The Karma Machine (YellowJacket Press 2011), which received the Peter Meinke Award.  Her work has appeared in Brevity, Mantra + Yoga Magazine, Elephant Journal, MindBodyGreen.com, The Literary Bohemian, Sivana East, Poetry Quarterly, and elsewhere.  Carroll is on the faculty of the Yoga Teacher Training Program at The Lotus Pond (located in Tampa, Florida), teaches writing at Ringling College of Art and Design, and leads Yoga and Writing Workshops and Retreats all over the world. Carroll engages in her lifelong passion and finds balance through mindfulness, yoga, and writing.  She fuses these practices to help others connect to their own creative spark and inner peace.  As a certified E-RYT 500 Hour Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master, Writer, and Meditation Guide, Melissa aims to assist her students with navigating through the challenges of daily life.  Carroll once suffered from Anxiety and Depression, but through the adoption of Reiki Energy Healing and Yoga principles she developed healthy coping mechanisms to effectively manage her Anxiety and Depression.  Carroll received her Master in Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida.  Her website is www.theyogawriter.com. 

Jason Zuk will interview Melissa Carroll-The Yoga Writer about her use of mindfulness, yoga, and writing to help others.  Melissa Carroll is an Acclaimed Writer, Certified E-RYT 500 Hour Yoga Instructor, Reiki Master, and Meditation Guide.   She is the Editor of the essay collection Going OM: Real-Life Stories on and off the Yoga Mat (Viva Editions 2014), with a foreword by Cheryl Strayed, author of The New York Times Bestseller,Wild.  Melissa is the author of two poetry chapbooks:  The Pretty Machine (ELJ Publications 2016) and The Karma Machine (YellowJacket Press 2011), which received the Peter Meinke Award.  Her work has appeared in Brevity, Mantra + Yoga Magazine, Elephant Journal, MindBodyGreen.com, The Literary Bohemian, Sivana East, Poetry Quarterly, and elsewhere.  Carroll is on the faculty of the Yoga Teacher Training Program at The Lotus Pond (located in Tampa, Florida), teaches writing at Ringling College of Art and Design, and leads Yoga and Writing Workshops and Retreats all over the world.  Carroll engages in her lifelong passion and finds balance through mindfulness, yoga, and writing.  She fuses these practices to help others connect to their own creative spark and inner peace.  As a certified E-RYT 500 Hour Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master, Writer, and Meditation Guide, Melissa aims to assist her students with navigating through the challenges of daily life.  Carroll once suffered from Anxiety and Depression, but through the adoption of Reiki Energy Healing and Yoga principles she developed healthy coping mechanisms to effectively manage her Anxiety and Depression.  Carroll received her Master in Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing from the University of South Florida.  Her website is www.theyogawriter.com. 

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The Amateur Traveler  talks to Michael Soncina who returns to the show to talk about his recent travels in Southern Taiwan. Michael took advantage of a Taiwan promotion targeting backpackers that opened up army barracks to provide inexpensive housing in this less visited region of Taiwan. The highlight of Kaohsiung City is the Lotus Pond, an area surrounded by temples old and new. Usually the older style temples seemed to be dedicated to Confucius, but there are giant temples in the image of the Jade emperor, which you can climb inside, and each floor offers unique art, as well there are the famous Dragon and Tiger pagodas. Michael also celebrated New Years on Cijin Island with its famous seafood street.

The Amateur Traveler  talks to Michael Soncina who returns to the show to talk about his recent travels in Southern Taiwan. Michael took advantage of a Taiwan promotion targeting backpackers that opened up army barracks to provide inexpensive housing in this less visited region of Taiwan. The highlight of Kaohsiung City is the Lotus Pond, an area surrounded by temples old and new. Usually the older style temples seemed to be dedicated to Confucius, but there are giant temples in the image of the Jade emperor, which you can climb inside, and each floor offers unique art, as well there are the famous Dragon and Tiger pagodas. Michael also celebrated New Years on Cijin Island with its famous seafood street.

The Amateur Traveler  talks to Michael Soncina who returns to the show to talk about his recent travels in Southern Taiwan. Michael took advantage of a Taiwan promotion targeting backpackers that opened up army barracks to provide inexpensive housing in this less visited region of Taiwan. The highlight of Kaohsiung City is the Lotus Pond, an area surrounded by temples old and new. Usually the older style temples seemed to be dedicated to Confucius, but there are giant temples in the image of the Jade emperor, which you can climb inside, and each floor offers unique art, as well there are the famous Dragon and Tiger pagodas. Michael also celebrated New Years on Cijin Island with its famous seafood street.

The Amateur Traveler  talks to Michael Soncina who returns to the show to talk about his recent travels in Southern Taiwan. Michael took advantage of a Taiwan promotion targeting backpackers that opened up army barracks to provide inexpensive housing in this less visited region of Taiwan. The highlight of Kaohsiung City is the Lotus Pond, an area surrounded by temples old and new. Usually the older style temples seemed to be dedicated to Confucius, but there are giant temples in the image of the Jade emperor, which you can climb inside, and each floor offers unique art, as well there are the famous Dragon and Tiger pagodas. Michael also celebrated New Years on Cijin Island with its famous seafood street.